


Trust

by Burgie



Series: Katja Joins Team Good AU [20]
Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 21:05:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7729711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elizabeth tells Avalon why she trusts Katja.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust

The bunker door opened with a terrifyingly-loud screech, and Elizabeth winced as she stepped outside into the cool night air. They really needed to oil that thing. She looked around, finally walking a little away from the bunker and then turning to look at it. She saw the hooded form of Avalon sitting on top of the bunker, just a black shape surrounded by stars.

“Hello,” said Elizabeth after climbing the ladder and taking a seat beside him.

“Hello,” said Avalon. He was warm against her side, which told her that he’d formed a body. Maybe he’d seen her.

“It’s a nice night,” said Elizabeth. “Cold, though.”

“I don’t feel the cold anymore,” said Avalon. “Ascension makes one impervious to everything.”

“Everything but love,” said Elizabeth, and smiled. “I know that for certain.”

“Yes,” said Avalon, and she could feel his smile. “Did you come here to keep me company?”

“Partly,” said Elizabeth. She reached into the apron on her dress and withdrew a thermos. “I brought you up some hot chocolate.”

“I don’t need it,” said Avalon. “But I appreciate the gesture.”

“I stole it from Lisa’s private stash,” said Elizabeth, and giggled.

“Well then, I really appreciate it,” said Avalon. He took the thermos from her and took a sip.

“I wish that you’d show your face more often,” said Elizabeth. “It’s a nice face.”

“It’s not the incredibly handsome face of a Frenchman,” said Avalon. She knew that he was just teasing, though.

“No it’s not, but I like your face better,” said Elizabeth. “It’s good for things like kissing.”

“You can kiss me without seeing my face,” said Avalon.

“I like seeing it, though,” said Elizabeth. “I feel like you only show it to people you trust.”

“I do,” said Avalon. “And I trust you. Obviously I do, otherwise I wouldn’t love you. But not everybody trusts as easily as you do, Elizabeth.”

“I never used to trust easily either,” said Elizabeth. “But I used to be just like Alex once. A real wild card. I really wanted to join the Keepers and I had the magical potential to do so, but they wouldn’t have me because I kept making mischief and playing tricks. Only on Dark Core though, never on people who were good.”

“I would have accepted you,” said Avalon. “We could have played tricks on Dark Core together. You remember what I did with those fools at the waterfall, don’t you?”

“Yes, you drugged them,” said Elizabeth. “Didn’t that seem a bit morally grey to you?” He shrugged, jostling her slightly.

“It was for the greater good,” said Avalon. “Louisa wasn’t yet at the power level to command them mentally or threaten them with the wrath of a goddess.”

“She still isn’t,” said Elizabeth. “Why are we holding her back, anyway? Don’t we want Aideen to return and save us from Garnok?” There was silence for a while. It was a thoughtful silence, one which Elizabeth spent staring at the stars and Avalon spent sipping thoughtfully at his hot chocolate. Finally, he answered.

“Aideen wasn’t always good,” said Avalon. “The goddess herself was good but she used to bestow her power upon a girl without giving any other guidance. We Keepers feared that she would make a mistake one day, or drive a girl to madness. And one cycle, she did.”

“What did she do?” asked Elizabeth. “That poor girl…”

“She used her power for evil,” said Avalon. “You must understand that this was not long after the Soul Riders were first created. We trained her as Aideen asked us to do, and she came to her full power quite quickly. None of us noticed her sanity slipping.”

“Did you kill her?” asked Elizabeth.

“Goddesses aren’t easily killed,” said Avalon. “We banished her to another dimension. We thought that we would be safe from her there. But none of us considered Dark Core.”

“What was the girl’s name?” asked Elizabeth. The situation sounded familiar…

“Elise,” said Avalon. “She had another name when she was at full power, though. It was-“

“Nihili,” said Elizabeth at the same time as Avalon. “So that’s why she’s such a threat.”

“Yes. And that is why Aideen now chooses her vessel carefully. She also pours the soul of her horse into the steed that her vessel rides. It is also why we Keepers teach the chosen one slowly and restrict her powers,” said Avalon.

“Wow,” said Elizabeth. “That’s a horrible thing to happen.”

“It is,” said Avalon. He offered the thermos to Elizabeth, who gratefully took a sip. “Now, you said that you used to rebellious and wild?”

“Yes,” said Elizabeth. The thermos warmed her hands, while the hot chocolate and Avalon’s presence warmed the rest of her. “Like I said, I wanted to join the Keepers but they wouldn’t have me. So I went back to their headquarters that night and hurled dung at them.”

“You didn’t,” said Avalon, his shoulders shaking in laughter.

“I did,” said Elizabeth, laughing herself at the memory. “Oh, they were so angry at me. I was made to scrub the headquarters from top to bottom. It took me over a week. And in that time, one of the druids started paying attention to me. She saw how hard I worked and wondered why I wasn’t allowed in. I told her, and she said that the other druids were silly to not see my potential. She said that true druids could look past someone’s prickly exterior and see the potential within. That even though my methods were a bit morally grey, my heart was in the right place. The very next week, she handed me my robes and took me on as her student.”

“Well, you’ve certainly calmed down since then,” said Avalon. “But meditation is a key part of being a druid.”

“That did help,” said Elizabeth. “I do still have a bit of a temper, though. I just know how to keep it in check.”

“Is it like the Incredible Hulk?” asked Avalon. Elizabeth looked at him, shock written clear across her features.

“How do you know about that character?” asked Elizabeth.

“Ascension takes away the need for sleep. I sometimes fill those night-time hours with something rather silly, when I don’t have anything better to be doing,” said Avalon.

“You keep surprising me,” said Elizabeth. She smiled at him, then moved around so she could kiss him. Her hands moved to push his hood down, and this time he let it happen. Avalon could have any physical age that he chose, but when Elizabeth pulled away she saw that he had quite a youthful face. Colours were difficult to detect in the dark, but his hair was light and his eyes dark. His skin was a lighter colour too.

“Do you approve?” asked Avalon.

“Yes,” said Elizabeth. “I approve very much.” She leaned in to kiss him again, and he took her into his arms to run his hand down along her hair.


End file.
